NATURIST: Stories of Brett

Stories of Naturist Men talked with Brett from Indiana (USA) about being a happy nudist gay male. Let’s meet him…

Tell us about your childhood, where did you grow up?

I grew up in Evansville, IN, a small city and pretty conservative upbringing – went to 12 years of Catholic school, was active in Speech/debate, drama, and academic extracurriculars – was horribly uncoordinated, so not into sports at all – pretty shy kid, but got recognition from being in plays and musicals – a nerdy, small, skinny kid who didn’t make a huge impression would be my assessment, more or less.

What did you study and why did you choose that career?

My major in college was Social Work, and I chose that career because, well, I vaguely wanted a degree in a helping profession, and psychology was too general, and there was more of a demand for work in Social Work, so that’s the route I took. I’d like to say I felt a calling to help change the world, but I wasn’t that aware back then and just wanted a good chance at employment. The awareness part grew over time and now I do feel the calling I didn’t have when I was young and dumb.

Did you enjoy and like it being nude since a little boy?

No, I can’t say I remember having the desire for it as a child, but once I was an adult and first moved out on my own, being naked around the house was my guilty pleasure and stayed that way until present day.

When did you realize you were a nudist or naturist?

Probably about 6 years ago – I joined the truenudists.com site, and started visiting area nudist resorts during the summer, and then tried to start local small groups for activities (which never got off the ground) via craigslist and other social media. I really began to enjoy social nudity, and if not always in person, then sharing it online was fun as well. It was remarkable how unremarkable it was – the whole experience was as natural and normal and welcoming as it could be, and I realized how healthy it was for self-image, and how un-self-conscious I felt, as well as those around me, which made it addictive for me, being the small, skinny, nerdy guy I was and still am, and all the body issues I had surrounding that, which suddenly didn’t matter – it was empowering.

When did you decide to start your Twitter?

I’ve been on Twitter for ages…but my nudist Twitter account (br47130) I just started last year. I had no idea the nudist community was so large – it’s been tons o fun! I wish I had more time to post more frequent pics, but time gets away from me these days 😦

Do you think society is changing their ideas about nudity?

I think the attitudes are changing way faster in western Europe and the UK than in the US, but yeah, I think milennials and younger are much more open to the idea in general – if only resorts and facilities would cater to the younger crowds – that would be much more helpful to the cause. So many resorts at least in my area are overwhelmingly baby-boomer and older crowds, and don’t appeal to younger crowds. In the US, I think it’s a vestigial trait handed down from our Puritan and Pilgrim ancestors – our automatic connection of all nudity automatically to sex and sex to shame and shame in comparing ourselves to retouched photos of celebrities and feeling like we don’t measure up. We don’t have a ton of good representations of casual nudity in everyday situations not linked to sex and having ideal bodies, which would go a long way towards normalizing casual nudity and giving young people realistic and healthy ideas about their own bodies and where they fall in the spectrum of what’s normal.

What it was the wildest and the most bizarre thing did it happen to you when being nude in public?

The overwhelming majority of public nude events that I’ve participated in at first were always remarkable to me how UN-wild and bizarre the whole experience was – not that I was disappointed by that, but it was notable how mundane it became after the first few minutes, like I stopped even really noticing it. I guess the wildest thing I ever did was walk nude in the Bay to Breakers race in San Francisco last year. The race is for clothed general public, but they allow nude participants – however there are so few of them that the nudes really stand out. I was really excited about doing it, but after about the first 5 minutes or so after losing the clothes, the rush died down and I just felt super self-conscious and it took me out of the enjoyment of the race – plus, not all of the others in the crowd were thrilled about us, so that made it awkward. I enjoy the all-nude 5Ks much more 🙂

When you were a kid and a teenager how did you discover your own sexuality?

I was way late to the game on that topic – although I probably had some inkling about being gay early in high school, I was in such heavy denial that I didn’t act on it until I was in my 20s, living on my own and away from my hometown and family, when I finally felt safe enough to explore. Of course, the early days of the internet, looking at pics of naked men on a 56k modem that took an afternoon to load via AOL was probably where the obsession began 🙂

Tell us about your coming out. Was it difficult? Does socialize with other gay men was easy for you?

For me, I think it went as easy as it could have, because my mother confronted and asked me, rather than having to bring it up myself, which, if it were left to me, probably wouldn’t have happened until far later, but this way the pressure was off a little bit and I was still in my 20s when my parents found out. My mom and dad were helping me move out of my first apartment, and while dad and I were away running errands, my mom opened a box she shouldn’t have and found my “stash”. When we came back, she didn’t say anything and waited until a few months later around Christmas when I was back at home visiting and asked me discreetly one-on-one about what she found and what it meant about my life. The whole thing went down fairly well, mom said that she had already told dad what she found, so he already knew, and we had a fairly calm conversation about the whole thing. She wasn’t thrilled, but wasn’t outraged either, and let me know they loved me either way, and we just went about the rest of the visit like nothing was different. So it was a pretty sweet deal, in the end, as she did most of the legwork telling dad and then bringing it up with me later in private – very low-key. Could have been SO much worse!

Socializing with other gay men at first was difficult for me – as a shy kid that didn’t really ever love the bar scene, I just never felt very comfortable, and not having a great body, I just felt extremely inferior with other men in my 20s and early 30s. It wasn’t until my later 30s that I got more comfortable, and found friends that weren’t as superficial, and then into my 40s, now having a local gay nudist group that meets monthly, I’m more comfortable than I’ve ever been, and the guys are much easier to get close to and connect with when you aren’t focused on what to wear to a party 🙂

Have you ever feel bad because people, friends or family not understanding about you being a naturist?

At this point, I live a compartmentalized life, and my family (and a good portion of my friends) doesn’t know about my naturist activities. I wish it wasn’t something I needed to keep separate, but that’s just where we are in society in general – people are too quick to get the wrong idea.

What it was the most difficult time for you being a naturist?

Winter. Amiright?

What does it mean for you being a naturist?

For me, it’s just a feeling of preferring to be naked whenever possible and convenient – which, for me 95 percent of the time is just at home on my own, and indoors (don’t have a yard or private outdoor area), but also whenever I can be in a welcoming social situation, I feel completely at ease being naked socially, and prefer it, because for me, it breaks down barriers and makes me a little less shy – it isn’t always about sex – a lot of the time, it’s just about acceptance and friendship – but I can’t say that it isn’t completely non-sexual either, and I adapt to whatever environment is acceptable. It’s never about exposing yourself to unwilling viewers or making any moves without consent or making others uncomfortable in any way.

Do you consider yourself sexy or atractive?

Haha, only to a small target audience. No, I wouldn’t say I’m conventionally attractive, but thanks to Twitter and Tumblr and the like, I know I do have my fans 🙂 Being a short, thin, not particularly muscular guy, with a lot of body hair, that makes me a darling of the “otter” scene, but I wouldn’t say I have the goods to be what most people think of when they describe the typical range of “attractive” traits for men. And that’s perfectly fine! I’m satisfied with what I was given by this point in my life, even though that’s not been the case at all when I was younger.

How is it the naturist community in your town?

I’m pretty lucky to have found a great group of guys to hang out with in our monthly group gatherings, which are mostly indoor house parties. The closest nudist resort is an hour and a half away, so there isn’t really a naturist community locally to speak of – so it’s small, but friendly 🙂

Do you consider a little exhibionist?

Sure – I’m not above it 🙂 I like being seen (by an accepting community), I’ll admit it.

How is it the feedback with followers on social network?

It’s been overwhelmingly positive all along – I’ve been amazed – so kind 🙂

Have you ever block people that is only interested about bothering because looking for other things and not naturism?

Sure, but that has been pretty rare so far, I’m glad to say – hope it stays that way!

What do you when you are not working?

Reading, binge-watching whatever I am told I have to check out on Netflix, watching and listening to a lot of news/podcasts because my country is a dumpster fire right now and it’s ridiculous trying to keep up with the insanity/cruelty/incompetence on a daily basis, and living my best naked life, or trying to 🙂

Do you remember a gay movie or gay role on TV or cinema?

All TV and movies are super-gay now, and it’s about damn time!

What is the most comfortable place in your house or outside to ne naked?

Well, outside is off-limits at my house, so just being at home indoors, I’m naked pretty much all the time, and I wouldn’t do it any other way!

What do you enjoy more about being nude?

Less laundry, less need for A/C, better connections with people who share the interest

How do you see LGBT rights in your country and worldwide?

Now that the milennial generation is in its prime and taking over, it’s becoming far less of an issue that carries much controversy at all anymore, especially since gay marriage legalization – we’re getting so much more enlightened about gender issues in general, among most of the population, at least – government is the outlier. Once all the rich old white men in Congress leave or die off, we’ll actually start to get legislation and representation that reflects the more liberal values that the people largely already have about gender and orientation.

What do you know about Peru my country?

I guess I only know of the typical thing most Americans know – Machu Picchu. I have never been, and would like to visit sometime if I get the chance, for sure.